A Better Dumont

2011 - Parting Shot from Council's (outgoing) Political Majority

2011-12-31T23:51:00.100Z

Faced with a loss of their majority in 2012, it appears that the departing regime wanted to leave their mark in a big way. Other than trying to teach us new economics, they leave with what appears to be a political attack document, disguised as an objective report, paid to the politically connected borough attorney and paid for by the Dumont taxpayers. 2004: Less than $5M debt = "financial

12/20/2011 Regular Mayor & Council Meeting

2011-12-21T11:51:00.013Z

Last but not final meeting of the year: Some questions: 1. When the borough administrator commended the mayor for running the borough like a business (16:12), did he mean the borough was run like it was taken over by a hedge fund, extracting its value and saddling it with debt from excessive consultant fees and legal yet questionable deals before leaving it in a far weakened state for a

12/13/2011 Special Council Meeting

2011-12-16T23:51:00.049Z

On the borough website: Public Notice: A special meeting of the Governing Body of the Borough of Dumont will be held December 13, 2011 at 7:00 PM in the Executive Chambers of Borough Hall at 50 Washington Avenue, Dumont, N.J. The subject matter includes NJEIT Phase II Flood Control project and Twin Boro Field Remediation and Reconstruction project. There will also be a closed session to discuss

Site and Other Updates

2011-12-09T23:51:00.045Z

Even though the site does not appear to have had many content updates, local news and commentary now appears in more places than ever! The following are a few of the many updates here at A Better Dumont media network: - Mobile device support. Do you have a web-enabled feature phone or smartphone? A Better Dumont is now mobile-friendly. You can now read posts directly from your web-enabled

11/29/2011 Joint Land Use Board Meeting

2011-11-29T23:59:00.026Z

Meeting Part 3 Kudos to Board Chair Hickey with the show of arrogance during the public session. Go on and show the mayor-elect who's boss of the meeting! One would think that running the board (for how many years?) one would know the proper parliamentary procedure to enter executive (closed) session. Who knew the board chair needed prompting? Note to chair - try studying this for the next

Congratulations to New Mayor and Council

2011-11-09T03:15:00.000Z

Unofficial results winner (does not include absentee ballots) Abrahamsen 1409 Kelly 2029 Riquelme 1571 Hickey 1413 Hayes 1894 Brophy 1917

What Does the Experience of Dumont Democrats Say?

2011-10-02T23:51:00.009+01:00

In a letter to the September 29 edition of the Twin-Boro News, Messrs. Abrahamsen, Riquelme and Hickey, candidates for mayor and council respectively, states: We have served on the Dumont council. Firsthand, we have experienced issues that concern the Dumont residents. With our vast experience, we will continue to work to resolve the issues that confront our town. The letter concludes: Our

What's Going on with Dumont's Special Ed Program?

2011-04-11T11:50:00.006+01:00

As a resident and taxpayer, I feel it is important that we have easy access to financial and operational documentation of our municipality and school district as required by law. Sadly, our school district does not seem to make completing that task easy. I mean, what is there to hide? While other school districts have Bills Lists and Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports freely downloadable

Nightmare in Dumont (schools)?

2011-04-10T11:50:00.258+01:00

Wow, did I have a nightmare, or so I thought... On March 31, Superintendent Triggiano and Business Manager Cartotto made a joint presentation on the proposed Dumont Schools 2011-2012 budget (video here). The takeaway I had from the hour long slide show was this: Triggiano: I am pleased to say that if our budget is successful at 2%, we are not planning on making any major changes in stafﬁng

PSE&G Solar Panels in Dumont

2011-03-29T11:50:00.007+01:00

The article in last Sunday's Record about solar panels had a pic where all the panels are pointed neatly in one direction. I took a look around Dumont and I found them seemingly pointing in different directions. Take a look for yourself...(click for full size) Directional Diversity? Installed in the AM or PM? Point towards the sun... To the left or to the right? Here's a close

Is this Legal?

2011-02-13T23:50:00.017Z

Recently it was announced that in the interest of saving money on utility bills, the borough of Dumont changed electric power supplier from Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) to Viridian Energy. The availability of third party power suppliers have become abundant recently as electrical power prices on the open market have declined to a level where resellers can still make a profit while

Trouble Paying Bills? So seems Dumont.

2011-01-30T23:50:00.084Z

It seems for that for those who have trouble keeping up with the utility bills, you are not alone. It appears that borough hall is having trouble paying them too. It seems that for some months the bill is not paid at all... PSEG 2010 Statements As you are looking through them, you may have noticed empty pages. According to the borough clerk for some pages Finance is having trouble

Happy New Year 2011!

2011-01-01T12:50:00.004Z

What will the new year bring... Honesty, Integrity and Reliability, Mistrust, Misunderstanding and Obliqueness, or Deception, Fraud and Thievery? For whatever it's worth, I predict 2011 will be an interesting year with full of surprises. Hey, what do I know... Anyway, wishing everyone in Dumont and the followers via blip, twitter, scribd and youtube a Happy 2011!

DPW Site Contamination: Announcement and Observation

2010-10-25T23:50:00.050+01:00

The October 19 M&C Public Meeting had a surreal feel, both at the meeting and days afterwards. First, the meeting was delayed by over 45 minutes. Second, the mayor announced that major contamination that dated to the 1980's were apparently never remediated. Comments followed from the borough administrator, borough attorney and council members. The usual committee reports were deferred; the

Dumont's Transparency - Lip Service?

2010-10-18T23:55:00.002+01:00

Back in July, I emailed the Mayor and copied the full Council on a suggestion that, I thought, may benefit the mayor's self-proclaimed mission bringing transparency to borough hall. This was not just a one-line suggestion that would have required much of the Ordinance and Resolution Committee's time or effort to complete. With permission, a template crafted by the Open Government Task Force

Missing Documents?

2010-10-11T23:50:00.005+01:00

Recently it has come to my attention that some files appear to be missing from the Borough of Dumont Official Website. It appears that certain files posted earlier this year for one reason or another did not make the transition from the previous provider (C3) to the current provider (E-government.com). As a public service, files reported missing (meeting minutes, ordinances, resolutions)

Official Request?

2010-10-10T23:50:00.013+01:00

Recently I received the following request from a council member: I was looking at your website. I am just curious why you have all of the Democratic Councilmembers and the Democratic Club reports but not for the Republicans? Thank you. As a result, the folder has been updated to include all R-1 forms filed with ELEC by all council candidates running in the 2010 Primary and General Elections

Pay for Performance?

2010-09-18T23:50:00.041+01:00

Paying for performance is a perfectly acceptable practice. For example, some folks will go through great lengths to put their children through private school even if it strains their finances. Why? Because they feel it is worth it. According to the borough audit summary for 2008 (completed in July 2009), the outside auditor issued nine "recommendations" relating to borough financial

Dumont's "Very Good" Financial Condition?

2010-09-04T23:51:00.005+01:00

As you may be aware, it has been difficult for an average citizen to obtain borough financial information, even via OPRA. This is because the borough is only required to publish current and previous year data. This has made longer duration analysis challenging as many different documents must be stitched together in order to determine whether the many declarations from various elected and

Mixed Bag on Salary Raises

2010-08-21T12:00:00.053+01:00

On the August 17 M&C Public Meeting, ordinance #1455 was passed 5-1-0. While it was a relief to hear that council members decided to keep their salaries unchanged, it appeared that salaries were increased 3.5% for the staff at borough hall not under collective bargaining. Though the borough administrator added that the staff now contribute 1.5% of their salaries into their healthcare benefits (

Email Correspondence with Councilman Matt Carrick

2010-08-13T11:50:00.013+01:00

The following is an email exchange with Councilman Matt Carrick when I asked him to instead oppose Ordinance #1415. The body of the correspondence appears without editing. Keep in mind that Councilman Carrick served on the Dumont BOE as a board member before he was elected to the borough council: KC: I am writing today regarding Ordinance #1415 that passed first reading at the July 20

Salary "Stimulus" on Resident Backs?

2010-08-09T12:00:00.016+01:00

With the Mayor selectively vetoing Public Contracting Ordinance #1411 making a splash on the headlines, one is led to believe that a majority of the council is fiercely battling the mayor and his council support member minority. According to the council president, the council is looking to protect the residents. If that would have been the whole truth... With the sole abstention coming from

Letter to the Editor, Twin-Boro News

2010-08-06T12:00:00.139+01:00

Dear Editor, I read Council President Harry Stylianou's letter to the editor on August 5th with interest as I have been to most of the committee meetings and have the video recordings online for anyone interested in viewing them. In the letter, he appeared to congratulate himself and the three council members who voted with him for approving ordinance 1411, the so-called Public Contracting

Transparency in Government, Part 2 - Pay to Play for Residents?

2010-07-05T11:50:00.017+01:00

In the previous post, it appears that council members want to make Dumont law stricter than that of NJ. How nice. Is it mere coincidence that the council members pushing hardest also happen to be running for re-election this year? Is the motivation due to the sheer embarrassment from the Record expose or just plain smart re-election campaigning? Meanwhile a recent letter to residents from

Transparency in Government, Part 1 - Selective Transparency?

2010-06-28T12:10:00.019+01:00

Our mayor seems to take nearly every turn trumpeting his accomplishment of bringing transparency to borough hall. A recent Record article seems to have some Dumont council members supporting bold initiatives concerning public contracting. The impression to the public is that council members want to go beyond that allowed by law. How quaint. What can the M&C show for after spending in excess